Und Gretel - growth potential for the D2C brand

Identifying growth potential for the D2C brand

D2C companies such as UND GRETEL acquire new customers through targeted digital marketing and subsequently endeavour to build up recurring sales with loyal customers. With these business models, a large part of the growth opportunities therefore lie in optimising digital marketing and building a self-fuelling cycle. This is known as growth hacking on the basis of a flywheel.

Online sales are also rising steadily for traditional companies compared to "brick and mortar". If costs for clicks ("CPC" / Cost per Click or "CPA" / Cost per Action) and customer acquisition costs ("CAC" / Customer Acquisition Costs) are improved, sales increase more cost-efficiently. This is because with the sharp rise in CPC that we have seen everywhere in recent years, it is particularly worthwhile to identify and utilise potential cost savings. Or to put it another way: More turnover is generated from the existing budget.

The UND GRETEL brand stands for very high-quality cosmetic products and enjoys a good reputation and trust among its consumers. It is also recognised in the industry as a trendy and sustainable brand.

On behalf of UND GRETEL, we examined part of the digital business model and investigated the question:

With a team of performance marketing experts for SMA, SEA and SEO, we reviewed UND GRETEL's existing digital marketing data to identify potential and optimisation opportunities and made an initial assessment of this in relation to the D2C business model.

The audit data was collated and evaluated based on the Google SEA AdWords account, the Data Studio dashboard and the Facebook / Instagram social media advertising ad manager. We also analysed details on the individual digital marketing aspects of SEA, SMA, SEO, UX/UI and influencer marketing and made recommendations for action.

The proportion of sales generated with returning customers is pleasingly high at UND GRETEL, but customers are initially purchased at too high a price - there is a lot of potential here. The return on ad spend ("ROAS") is high in relation to individual channels; the ROAS should also be scrutinised as a "leading metric", correctly classified and viewed in context (e.g. how high is the actual ROI after adding internal and other costs). When it comes to scaling the business, there are a number of factors which, when combined, lead to better results for marketing - three of these are listed here as examples:

• 1 SMA: In social media advertising, monitor and test the advertising account more consistently and follow up with the teams.
• 2. Adwords: In the SEA area, strategically align the account for growth and generate more sales through unutilised potential, for example through a better campaign structure with a modern multi-level funnel approach.
• 3. switch to CSS: When advertising via the Google Comparison Shopping Service (CSS), choose a CSS partner and save the 20 % commission when using the Google offer. For the same budget, 25% more clicks can be generated.

Here are some examples of the aspects of the audit that are addressed in varying depth depending on the situation and customer:

• Social media advertising audit: In-depth analysis of Meta's ad manager (Facebook / Instagram), possibly also TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, validation of the campaign setup, review of tracking & setup, analysis of target groups and targeting, best practices, performance overview
• SEA Audit / Google Adwords Audit: Analysis of the SEA account, review of the strategic orientation, consideration of branded / generic campaign setups, campaign structure, use of matching options and ad extensions, ad groups, keyword level, identification of untapped potentials
• UX audit / UI audit with a view to CRO: content and UX/UI expert audit, desktop and mobile, evaluation based on defined heuristics / dialogue principles and global best practices, identification of improvements from the user perspective (UX), prioritisation and transfer to requirements / user stories if necessary, incl. Google Lighthouse audit for performance
• SEO audit: Check visibility and competition, first review of the technical SEO on-site, execution of a first rough SEO potential analysis in the topic area, development of a decision template for further steps in SEO
• Performance analysis: Review of tracking in Google Analytics with regard to implementation, initial check of conversion paths and analytics data in Google Analytics / Data Studio
• Recommendations for the next steps: Summary of the results with concrete steps with regard to - as a rule - growth-oriented growth marketing as a prerequisite for a holistic and successful digital marketing strategy, potential for improvement for more marketing efficiency